Let's give it up for the ghosts

What words spring to mind when you hear the word ghostwriter? "Mysterious"? "Secret"? Or "experienced professional writer who writes best-selling books"?

As a ghostwriter of more than 20 books, including four Sunday Times bestsellers, I often get blank looks when I tell people what I do for a living.

Which is a shame, because ghostwriters are an integral part of the publishing industry. As many as 70% of non-fiction books are thought to be ghostwritten, and this rockets to almost 100% for celebrity books. We form deep relationships with our authors and write commercially successful manuscripts for them. And yet we’re viewed as a "guilty secret", which means that our contribution isn’t fully recognised.

But are times changing? Prince Harry and Britney Spears are two celebrities who have publicly named the ghostwriters beavering away on upcoming memoirs. More publishers now seem willing to include the name of ghostwriters on book covers and the topic of ghostwriting has recently appeared across the national press. Publishers and agents alike all agree: ghosts offer a unique skillset. 

Picador editorial director Andrea Henry says: "Great ghostwriters are like gold dust. They need to be a great interviewer, a brilliant listener and understand nuance. They also need to be deeply sensitive to what the author, editor and publisher wants and be flexible about deadlines. It’s a lot to ask!"

Literary agent Eve White said: "Ghostwriting is like acting. You have to write as if you really are that person and that takes a massive leap of imagination and understanding." 

So why does the relationship between ghostwriters and the publisher industry remain uneasy at times? Ghosts I spoke to say that while they’re often well rewarded, some are offered as little as £1,500 to write a full draft (with the distant promise of royalties) while others receive little or no thanks, despite making a book work against all odds.

Many of us would like to see the publishing industry be bolder about acknowledging a professional ghostwriter’s role. Perhaps it’s even time for national awards and book launches to extend those invitations to ghosts too 

Time and budget constraints play a part as ever. Perhaps the habit of pretending ghostwriters doesn’t exist to the outside world also dies hard. But do the public actually care if an author uses a ghostwriter?

Andrea Henry believes readers increasingly appreciate transparency around ghostwriters. "Not everyone is able to write their own story- why would they be able to? I think readers of memoir are open to ghosts but feel short changed when a novel has been ghostwritten."

While some authors baulk at the idea of using a ghost, many welcome our input after trying and failing to meet a deadline. Editorial director at the Palazzo/Ad Lib Group, Duncan Proudfoot, believes "very few of us are actually writers". He says: “Everyone can use help with their writing. There are many occasions when I would rather have had a ghostwriter than an editor – ideally both, of course – but cost is, as ever, an issue.  Personally, I feel that the tremendous contribution of ghostwriters should be acknowledged.”

Book production is a team effort but often it’s the ghost who makes or breaks a project. Once I was given a three-week deadline to interview and hand in a 70,000 first draft for a celebrity memoir. The book went on to be a number one bestseller, yet my name appeared nowhere. On the flip side, I’ve had flowers, champagne, and thank you cards with heartfelt messages from appreciative authors, delighted to have a finished book in their hands. 

Of course, ghostwriters understand the need for discretion. Once the manuscript is finished it belongs to the author — as it should do. However, parting can be a sweet sorrow, especially after the inevitable emotional investment necessary to "get inside someone’s head". 
Like many freelance roles, ghostwriting can be isolating, and is one reason United Ghostwriters, a collective of leading ghostwriters from the UK was founded. The group began as network of friends and now boasts 15 members, many of whom have written bestselling memoirs, celebrity books and self-help books. 

Bestselling ghost Gilly Stern agrees that the lack of empathy from publishers can sting. "I’d like to educate the industry on the emotional toll ghosting takes so they better understand how to treat us when it comes to handing the book over. At times I have not felt valued as the person in this process who started with a blank page and handed in a 65,000-word book that they are going to benefit hugely from."

United Ghostwriters member Caro Handley, agrees. She recently wrote a memoir for a fashion icon and once the manuscript was delivered, she was removed from all email threads, even those praising her work. "I went from being a vital part of the deal to being invisible," she says.  

Many of us would like to see the publishing industry be bolder about acknowledging a professional ghostwriter’s role. Perhaps it’s even time for national awards and book launches to extend those invitations to ghosts too. After all, the reading public appreciate our books just as much as our editors and authors do. 

And we definitely do exist.